Trying new things . . .

We're still new at this thing of trying to move from a SAD diet to a
vegetarian diet (we still eat some m**t), and the more we learn the
better we feel. A couple of days ago I got my first issue of "Natural
Health" magazine, and it had actual COUPONS for some popular vegetarian
foods, among them the "hot dogs" made by the people who make Tofu Pups.
The company makes three varieties -- "wonderdogs" are supposed to be a
kids' favorite -- but we went for the Smart Dogs since they are
completely fat free, and the kids loved them.
My only problem with this diet, it's EXPENSIVE! I paid, before the
coupon, $3.79 for a package of 8 hot dogs. Considering I can buy
(Sorry) t*rk*y franks for less than a dollar at the Navy commissary,
this is quite a difference in my grocery budget. How do the rest of you
handle the fact that health food stores charge so much for everything,
especially those of you who keep strictly to a VLF diet, where you have
few choices in regular grocery stores. Are we just going to have to
learn to pay more than twice as much for groceries if we want to eat
healthier? I know some of you will say, oh, vegetables in the produce
aisle are some of the cheapest things in the store, but that doesn't
help much, since none of us in this family are big vegetable eaters by
nature, and we're trying to approach this from the point of view of
replacing our SAD diet with things that taste like (or close to) the
foods we're used to. Yesterday I bought a vegetarian quiche, hoping the
kids would acccept is as an entree. They picked out all the big chunks
of veggies (broccoli, raw muchrooms, cabbage, and zucchini) and just ate
the cheese and the crust. Does anyone have suggestions on where we can
make changes in an economical way? We get sort of burned out on beans
and rice dishes -- economical, yes, but no matter what you do with the
seasonings, it's still beans and rice in the end.
While I'm rambling, I would like some info from vegans on the list, and
please take this to personal e-mail. I understand not using animal
products at all (milk, eggs and so on), but I am a little puzzled by not
using honey. I must admit I don't know enough about insects to know
what bees do, but I guess I thought they were just the processing system
for sugars that they got from flowers, so how is that an animal product?
OK, I haven't read much yet, so it's probably a dumb question, but we
have to start somewhere. One more thing, and then I'll stop rambling,
does anyone have a tried-and-true herbal healing list on the net?
Thanks for putting up with the long post. ~~Lyn
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